Continuation Of CSI: Cyber
by That quirky character
Summary: What happened after the season two finale? CSI: Cyber
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Sooo... this started as a little project after the show was canceled and morphed into a story. Please read and review. I'd love requests, (no matter how seemingly small or stupid they are!) Also, I'm sorry about the weird formatting but every time I fix it the app just messes it up again. Until the glitch gets fixed there's nothing I can do.

P.S: This starts as the first case the cyber division gets after the finale. Also, since the show somewhat neglected to really develop Raven's character, she'll be one of my main focuses.

* * *

The nighttime began as it always did, first with a nightmare, then with a blood pool. This time however, it wasn't his own. He stood, shaking and shivering, cloaked in moonlight, adorned by stars, and incriminated by the ever present passing of time.  
A wave of panic brushed over him, creating an imbalance in the sides of his mental war. A rift between immaculate control and utter chaos. In a final act of desperation and guilt, he took the knife that lay by his side and drew it down his arm. The blood  
dripped down and painted a pattern on the wooden floorboards. He turned and ran away, the heels of his boots leaving streaks in their wake. Almost as an afterthought he tossed the knife into the bushes and sprinted down the street, with a cape made of  
shadows flowing behind.

* * *

Elijah poured his morning coffee, barely awake and struggling to keep his eyes open. His father was just getting sicker and sicker, still refusing treatment of any kind. He had been up all night by his bedside, getting him water and making sure  
he was comfortable. Pain medication was prescribed, but even then his father was still in serious pain. It was taking its toll, and the last time Elijah had a full night's sleep was a three days ago.

CTOC was having a relatively quiet day, no new cases so far and just routine paperwork to fill out. As Elijah walked out of the break room he was nearly run over by a new intern. She apologized quickly, gathering up her spilled papers and half-walking,  
half-jogging down the hallway. Startled, Elijah walked over to his desk, set his coffee down and turned on his computer. He took a deep sip and sighed, "And so the day begins."

Raven and Nelson walked in together, talking quietly to each other. "You know they already know, Raven." Nelson murmured as they neared their desks, "C'mon, don't be shy about it, we don't have to hide now that neither of us are in the "Hacker for  
Hire" program anymore."

"Only because it no longer exists." Raven retorted, sitting down in her seat.

"You're avoiding the question."

"You never asked one."

"You know what I mean. I just don't want to be so secretive about it anymore. It made sense when Avery finding out could mean jail, but she found out anyway and it's okay. Not to mention that that's not even a risk anymore."

"What do you want me to do, then? Stand on the desktop and shout "I'm dating Nelson"?!"

Nelson opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Avery as she descended the staircase into CTOC. "New case. A murder victim was just discovered in Georgetown, Delaware. He was a former army ranger, and all his devices were stolen except for his  
phone. But it was wiped, then left with one photo on it. Local police have asked for our cooperation. Wheels up in thirty." Nelson and Raven shared a glance, then moved quickly to get their things together in preparation for the trip. Avery walked  
over to Elijah, staring at him worryingly. "Elijah?" His head shot up from where it had been resting on the desk.

"Yes?" There were bags under his eyes. His fatigue was obvious, as was the stress he was under.

"Stay here for this case. You can help us from CTOC, but you need to be close with family right now." She placed a hand on his shoulder, waiting for Elijah to respond.

"Avery, I appreciate your concern, but that's not necessary."

"Listen to me Elijah, I respect your commitment to work and this team, but it's obvious you are not at your best right now."

Elijah sighed, frowning at Avery. "And what's that supposed to mean? I was trained as a field agent, that's where I belong."

"I'm sorry, but you can either help us from CTOC, or go home." She reached for her bag from under the desk, and turned to leave. Elijah scowled, pacing back and forth between the now empty desks. What was he supposed to do? Just sit back and wait  
for whenever Avery decided call? He couldn't imagine a worse waste of his skills.

* * *

The plane could hold double the normal number of the cyber team, but today it was filled to less than half capacity. DB, of course, was in Paris, and Elijah had stayed behind. Raven though, had spent her years at the cyber division actively avoiding  
field work. There was just something about the rough nature of it that reminded her of all the times kids at school used to hit her. Or kick her. Trip her, and laugh. Reminded her of the reason she ran away. She shook her head suddenly, startled  
by her own thoughts. She also hated flying. The loss of control over her own safety, she supposed, refusing to acknowledge any other reasons. Either way, her nerves were getting the best of her, so she leaned back against the seat, putting her  
earbuds in and hoping music would help calm her down. She drummed her fingers over the rim of the drink holder and focused on taking deep breaths. A tap on the shoulder startled her and she looked up. Nelson stood next to her, holding out a glass  
of water. "You okay?" He questioned, sliding into the seat next to her.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine." She smiled weakly. He didn't look convinced, but let it slide. To avoid further conversation, Raven opened up her computer and began to read through the briefing on what they knew about the case so far.

The murder took place at around 2:30-3:30 AM, and the victim was 42 year old Jonathan Singer. His cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the chest and torso. The murder weapon was a sharp knife that had been found tangled in the bushes. The blade  
was described as being "...so stained by blood that it looked like it was painted red." A witness, Maria Zepeda, stated that she saw a man running down the street wearing blood-stained clothes. This took place at about 3:10. There were no other  
witnesses, and the street camera video had yet to be processed. There was no more information in the digital file. Raven closed the laptop, powering it off and leaning back in her seat as the plane took off. Beside her, Nelson was still reading.

* * *

Local law enforcement met them at the airport. The officer's name was Julia Dupree. Her face was set in a permanently stern expression, and she did not seem impressed by the cyber entourage. She greeted them briefly, shaking only Avery's hand and  
nodding to acknowledge the others. "The Georgetown police department is glad to assist the cyber division in any way possible, however we want it known that Jonathon Singer's death will not have a normal investigation. He served not only his country,  
but this city for his whole life. His murder is a matter of utmost importance and priority right now." They walked out of the building and into the police van. Avery turned to speak to Julia.

"We understand." Avery swallowed hard, thinking of DB's shooting. Then she turned to the rest of the team, "Krumitz, pull up the crime scene photos. Raven, find out everything you can from his social media. And Nelson, pull up Mr. Singer's military  
history."

Julia looked startled. "The department is just a few minutes away, we can get all that information there."

"We understand, but we want to get up to speed as quickly as possible. Multiple stab wounds suggest that the killer had a personal connection to the victim, and the aggressive nature of the crime makes it seem likely that the killer thinks Mr. Singer  
wronged him in the past, or did something to deserve his death, like a type of retribution. This target is probably panicking, and his unstable emotions and thought process could prompt him to kill again. We need to hit the ground running." Julia  
nodded, appeased for the moment.

The Georgetown police department building was a dome shaped building, looming over its front yard, which appeared meager and small in comparison. The two front doors were white with the emboldened name "Georgetown" engraved in blue ink. It was surrounded  
by a variety of symbols and signs, many that didn't seem to stand for anything related to law enforcement. Krumitz stared at the building in disdain, to him the structure and engravings seemed rather overzealous. Was all this decoration really  
necessary?

Julia ushered them into a conference room, and began with the investigation with a quick briefing. "The reason Cyber was called in was due to the fact that a single photo was left on his phone, after being wiped. All of his other devices were stolen.  
This is the photo." She turned on the projector and pulled up a slide. The photo was strange, it looked like a flower, but the petals looked like feathers, and they all varied slightly in color and shape.

"What does it mean?" Krumitz asked.

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Julia responded. Then she handed each of them a copy of the case file.

Raven opened it up and stared at the picture. She squinted, something wasn't right. Holding the picture up to the light, she pointed to one of the feathers. "Avery, can you zoom in?"

"Sure, what do you see?"

Raven walked up to the projector and traced the feather's tips until they came to an end at a point. "They look like feathers overall, but if you look closer, they're needles, that explains the metallic color." After she pointed them out, Nelson  
and Krumitz discovered something else.

"These are arrows." Nelson said, pointing to another feather.

"This one is blood." Krumitz added, writing it on the board.

"The last one is bone." Raven finished, laying the file down on the table. Avery looked at the photo, with each of the feathers labeled with its material.

"Well, what does this mean?" Julia asked.

"It could be a symbol of some sort." Avery said. "But what does a flower with petals of feathers made up of bone, blood, needles, and arrows symbolize?"

Just then, Julia's phone rang, and she moved to pick it up. "Dupree." As she listened, her expression turned to one of confusion. "Thanks for the update Michael." She finished, hanging up. She turned to the rest of the team. "That was our M.E.,  
the lab results just came in. He says there were two different people's blood at the crime scene."

Nelson raised his eyebrows, "Well what are we talking here, blood spatter or blood pool?"

"Blood pool," Julia said, "And the second person's blood was mixed in with the the second's, as though it had been dripped or poured in directly."

"Could it be a second victim?" Raven asked.

Julia sighed, "Maybe, but there wasn't enough blood for it to be fatal, so if there is a second victim, they would have to be held hostage or have been killed somewhere else."

Avery shook her head, looking at the crime scene photos on Nelson's tablet. "It's unlikely, there were hesitation marks all over the body, it shows the killer is most likely either inexperienced or remorseful. Most killers who fit that profile  
don't take hostages or kill two people at the same time."

Raven broke in, zooming in on her tablet. "Guys, you've got to to see this." She pulled up a website. "I did an image search of the symbol through standard search engines, nothing came out. Then, I ran it through various part of the dark web,  
I still only got one hit, but this is it." The website's home page showed a white background, with the photo plastered full screen across it. "No context, no explanation. Just the picture."

Avery paused, "Is there any way for you to get the location of the server?"

Raven shook her head, "Everything is encrypted. I could break the code, but it would take time."

"How much time?" "Maybe a couple hours. I have to run it through multiple programs, and selectively change the filtering mechanisms of all of them." She paused, her expression turning into one of confusion. "Wait, this is odd. The code changed.  
It looks like somebody just updated the it, and now there is one decrypted segment. An IP address." She read it off to the rest of the team.

Krumitz looked up from his tablet, "It isn't routed through any proxies, and the location is..." He leaned forward. "A warehouse on the corner of Checker and Marks."

Avery hesitated, "It doesn't make sense that the target would release his own, real IP address. Also, since our killer seems to have either been inexperienced or remorseful, this doesn't sound like him. Whoever this is, their actions point  
to them being assertive and confident. We may be looking at a partnership. Since our killer is remorseful or inexperienced, he is the submissive partner. This one," She said, pointed to the screen, "Is the dominant one. The timing is suspicious  
though, right when Raven opened up the site, the IP address was decrypted. It is entirely possible this is a trap. We need to proceed with extreme caution." She nodded at Julia, "Let's go." 


	2. Chapter 2

The warehouse was located on the outskirts of the city, past the hustle and bustle of pedestrians and businesses. The streets became curvier and longer as the team neared their location. When they finally arrived, they drove both vans into a nearby field  
and parked them there. It was possible that there were security cameras recording activity in the parking lot, and the target could be notified if the team pulled in there. As they exited the vans- Julia and Avery in one, Krumitz, Raven, and Nelson  
in the other- they put on bullet proof vests and readied their weapons. Nelson pulled Raven aside. He took an extra gun out from the car and handed it to her. "Just in case." She looked at him in confusion. As a consultant, she had to be verified  
by Avery to work in the field, which she was, but the process for her to have a gun was much longer. She had applied, but wasn't qualified yet.  
"Nelson," She began, but he didn't let her finish.  
"When we were in the hacker for hire program, they gave us obligatory shooting lessons. I know you can shoot, Elijah had you teach me." Raven sighed, but didn't resist anymore. She took the  
gun and followed Nelson as the team lined up beside the door.  
Avery knocked, and yelled loud enough for anyone inside to hear, "FBI, open up!" There was no answer. She nodded to Nelson, who kicked the door open.  
The inside of the warehouse was dark and dingy, and smelled of mold. Shadows cloaked the corners, and even the team's flashlights seemed to do little to combat the darkness. Raven and Nelson  
branched off to the left, Avery, Krumitz and Julia to the right. "Clear!" Julia yelled, seeing nothing and no one on the right side of the warehouse. Just as Nelson was about to reply the same thing, Raven motioned for him to follow her. She was pointing  
at a table with something cloaked by a blanket. The shape was bulky and cylindrical, and stretched almost the entire length of the table. Slowly, Raven lifted one end of the blanket, and Nelson the other. Once the blanket was off, they could see a  
countdown. It had seven seconds left, and its ticking was growing ominously louder.  
"BOMB!" Nelson yelled, grabbing Raven's arm and turning to run. They had almost reached the door when it exploded behind them. Nelson pulled Raven to the ground, and they both covered their  
ears as the sounds of the explosion ricocheted throughout the building. The blasts continued for what felt like hours, but was likely only a minute or so. It seemed like there were multiple blasts, and they all felt as strong as the one before it,  
if anything, they were increasingly more powerful. Each detonation shook the foundation of the building, and it crossed Raven's mind more than once that the walls could cave in on them. Raven felt something hit her leg, followed by a sharp burning  
pain. She kicked it away, but the heat remained. The blasts had finally stopped, but both their ears were still ringing. When Raven pushed herself up, she saw a wall of fire approaching from the back of the warehouse. A piece of burning wood had been  
touching her leg, and flames had sprung up all around it. She barely registered Nelson helping her to her feet, or running out of the warehouse and into the parking lot. She subconsciously felt herself fall, but the pain of hitting gravel was lost  
on her. Behind them, the building began to creak and shift, the shrapnel, shock waves, and fire destroying the supports of the structure. Nelson was yelling her name, but she couldn't hear it. The ringing in her ears was incessant and loud, and whenever  
she opened her eyes the world would spin and dip until she closed them again. The colors were all mixed together, and the sun was too bright.  
Slowly the ringing faded into the background, and her senses began to come back to her. The first thing she felt was pain. The sting of gravel from when she had fallen, but mainly the burn on  
her leg. For the first time, she began to hear Nelson's voice. He sounded worried, and desperate. "Raven, Raven look at me. Raven. God, Raven, open your eyes. Can you hear me? Please Raven." She was still dizzy, but the feeling was fading fast. The  
world came into focus in pieces. The colors separated, and shapes became clearer, although their edges remained blurred. She felt Nelson's hand on her cheek. "Raven? Raven please look at me." She opened her eyes slowly, squinting at the sudden brightness.  
For a second a wave of dizziness washed over her, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come.  
"Brody?" She murmured, beginning to regain control of her body. Her vision focused, and she could see Nelson leaning over her. She tried to sit up, but her cut and bruised arms sent sharp, piercing  
pains through them that forced her back down again. Nelson looped his arm around her waist and helped her sit up. She looked at him, still feeling as though there were flames licking at her skin.  
"Raven," He said, brushing her hair away from her face, which she realized was cut too. His fingers ran over a cut and she winced. "How badly are you hurt?"  
She swallowed hard, then opened her mouth to speak. "I think I burned my leg, but other than that, I think it's mostly just bumps and scrapes. I think I hit my head, but I'm not dizzy anymore  
and my vision is better." Nelson nodded.  
"The paramedics will be here soon, and they'll make sure you don't have a concussion." He said, trying to be reassuring. He gently rolled up her pant leg, revealing a patch of blistered and  
red skin. As the fabric touched the burn, Raven whimpered in pain and bit her lip.  
Sirens began to wail in the distance, and soon firefighters reached the warehouse. Raven was escorted by a medic to an ambulance.  
As the paramedics treated her, Krumitz walked up to Nelson. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be okay." Nelson nodded.  
"I know. Are the rest of you alright?"  
"Yes. Avery said there were multiple bombs, she saw at least two others explode from near the other walls. Luckily, we were all far enough away." Nelson looked back, at the smoldering remains  
of the warehouse. He took a shaky breath in.  
"Avery was right, it was a trap. What do we do now?"  
Krumitz looked back at Avery and Julia, who were examining some of the wreckage. "Avery thinks that the targets have a more complicated relationship than we previously thought. The bomb squad  
is beginning to examine the scene. I'll keep you updated on what they find. However, the fire department says there are many pieces of shrapnel still intact, even after the fire."  
"But why escalate from murder to bombing?"  
Krumitz shrugged, "Maybe the dominant partner thought he could kill us all and prevent his arrest by doing so."  
Nelson shook his head. "It just doesn't make sense, Krummy. Don't most killers stick to their M.O.?"  
"Most of the time. But hey, maybe this isn't just about the murder, maybe there's something we're missing. Maybe good old Singer isn't the man we think he is."  
Nelson sighed, turning away for a moment. He glanced back at the ambulance, where he could glimpse Raven speaking to one of the paramedics. He shook his head again. "Jonathon Singer was a former  
army ranger and model citizen. What kind of criminal activity could his death be tied to?"  
"I don't know." Krumitz said. "I'm going to see if Avery found anything else."  
Nelson made his way over to the ambulance. The paramedics were wrapping a bandage around Raven's leg, and he could see her grimace as they wound it tighter. He walked up to her, and she turned  
to look at him. "Are you okay?" He asked.  
Raven nodded, "They said it's mostly superficial injuries. The worst part is the burn on my leg, but they gave me some painkillers for it."  
"Are you good to continue on the case?"  
She nodded, "The paramedics said I will most likely be good to go, but they have to take me to the hospital and run some tests, just make sure I'm okay."  
Just then, Krumitz approached them. "Avery wants us to regroup at the police headquarters." He turned to Raven, "How are you?"  
"I'm fine." She said quickly, brushing away his concern. Nelson turned to the other agent.  
"We'll meet you back there in a couple hours, once we're done at the hospital." Krumitz nodded, and headed off in the direction of the police vans.  
Nelson stepped up into the ambulance, reaching for Raven's hand. "I've got you." She smiled softly at him, grimacing as the vehicle pulled onto the road and she was jostled around. A nurse approached  
them, holding an IV in her hand. "Miss Ramirez? I need to insert this into your arm. We're giving you some stronger painkillers since burns can often become more painful after the immediate scalding." Raven nodded, wincing as the needle slid into  
her arm.  
The nurse moved away and the ambulance swerved again, turning onto a side road. Nelson wrapped an arm around her and she closed her eyes, leaning into him. The wail of the ambulance's sirens  
were muffled by the vehicle's walls, but Raven could see reflections of the flashing lights from outside. She shut her eyes again, feeling peaceful with the absence of the sterile white walls and all the medical equipment. Ignoring the pain from her  
leg and her cut and bruised limbs. But even that began to fade into the background as the painkillers coursed through her veins. Sitting next to her, Nelson's arms were warm around her and she allowed herself to relax into them. They would be  
at the hospital soon. Everything would be all right.  
Outside, the wind howled and beat at the sides of the ambulance.

* * *

Nelson tapped Raven on the shoulder as the ambulance pulled into the hospital. She opened her eyes again, and the paramedics had her lay down on a stretcher and wheeled her into the emergency room. Nelson followed directly behind her, staying close  
enough to talk with her. The nurses set up machines and drew blood, asking Raven questions.  
"Miss Ramirez, can you tell me the date?" The nurse asked, shining a light into her eyes. Raven blinked.  
"October 29th, 2016."  
"Do you have a headache, or blurry or double vision? What about dizziness?" Raven shook her head.  
"Not anymore, although I did immediately after the explosion."  
"Have you had any more experiences of those symptoms after the initial explosion, before we arrived or on the way here?"  
"No, nothing."  
"Repeat after me," The nurse said, placing the light on a cart. "18, 91, 2, 40, 16."  
Raven took a deep breath, her gaze flickering over to Nelson in the background. "18, 91, 2, 40, 16."  
The nurse nodded, "Good. One last thing." She tapped the cart three times in succession with her index finger, paused, then tapped once again, then twice. "Can you repeat that motion for  
me?"  
Raven repeated the action quickly, and the cart rolled slightly under her touch. The nurse smiled warmly at her, "I see no evidence of a concussion or brain injury, and the cuts and bruises  
will heal in a few days to a week or so. Meanwhile, regularly clean and bandage the burn, and we have prescribed some painkillers for you. You are to take one pill twice a day, preferably before you eat breakfast and before you eat dinner. The  
instructions are also printed on the bottle." Raven thanked the nurse, and stood up to leave.  
For a second she nearly stumbled, feeling a searing pain shoot through her leg. Nelson reached an arm out to steady her, and guided her downstairs and out the door.  
The air was cold and windy, and Raven shivered as they stepped outside. She attempted to walk normally, but the pain forced her to limp. Nelson offered to pull the car up to front door for  
her, but she declined. Something about his concern bothered her; the attention made her feel uncomfortable. She felt vulnerable, and hated to appear so weak in front of the team. She had always felt like they frowned upon her, always judging her  
for her past. So she despised the thought of being a burden to them and straining their resources because she was injured. Grimacing, she opened the car door and got inside. She decided she would act like she wasn't even hurt, no matter how painful  
it was. 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I'm sorry I haven't updated recently, finals have been wreaking havoc on my life. I may not be able to post again until after Christmas, but I will certainly try to sooner! Anyways, without further ado: Chapter Three!

* * *

At the police station, the team reconvened in the conference room. Raven slid into a seat, grateful to be off her leg. Julia stood at the projector, and flicked it on."The lab is looking at the anatomy of the bomb, and they'll  
soon be able to tell us how it was made and with what. Also, the bomb squad found pieces of intact shrapnel from all the bombs, each piece had the same message engraved on it. "Leave my friend alone." Pictures of shrapnel with the message engraved  
on it showed up on the screen. Quickly, Julia handed over the presentation to Avery.  
"Due to the hesitation marks on the body, I think it's safe to assume that the submissive partner was the murder. But this message entails that the dominant partner was the bomber. Also, he  
probably meant only to send a warning, not kill anyone. It wouldn't make sense to leave a message if no one would be around to read it. While we wait for lab results, I think it would be beneficial to start running the encrypted code from the website  
through decryption programs and going over everything we know about the case so far."  
Krumitz pulled up several programs on his laptop, and set the filters on each of them. He had designed them himself, specifically made to crack any code they came in contact with. He set them  
to work with a decryption cipher pattern. Each program would run on a different pattern, and he would reset them if nothing showed up after the entire code had been processed. Raven and Nelson set up similar programs on both their laptops, and left  
them running in the background.  
Avery stood up. "Raven, what did you find out from Mr. Singer's social media?" Raven opened up another folder on her laptop.  
"He posted about once every week, mainly just status updates and photos of family. He has a wife and two children, aged eight and twelve." She projected her findings on the screen. "I don't  
see conflicts with anyone, really. Nothing suspicious." Avery nodded, he seemed like the average middle-aged citizen, not too involved online, but still having a notable presence. What bothered her was that Julia hadn't mentioned his family previously.  
"Officer Dupree, I think we should talk to his family and see if they think anyone had a reason to hurt him. Also, the file mentioned a witness, Maria Zepeda? Could we talk to her?"  
Julia nodded, "We can bring her back to the station if you want."  
Avery shook her head, "We don't want to intimidate her or make it seem like we think she's a suspect. We'll stop by her house and speak to her. It shows a personal interest in what she saw,  
and she'll be more relaxed with us."  
"Okay." Julia said, "I'll give you their addresses." She paused, looking down at her phone. "The lab managed to identify the DNA from the second source of blood at the crime scene, and they  
said that it also matched blood on the murder weapon." Her confusion was evident, both sources of blood on the murder weapon, one from the victim, and one from an unknown source. It didn't make sense.  
"Since we don't think there's another victim, is it possible the killer cut himself on accident?" Nelson asked, confusion written all over his face.  
Julia sighed, "I don't know. But I'm going to go check this out. See if we get a match when we run the DNA through CODIS."  
She headed off in the direction of the labs, her heels clicking against the floorboards as she went. Avery motioned to Nelson and Krumitz. "You two go talk to Maria Zepeda, confirm her statement  
and see if she remembers anything else. Raven and I will speak to the family."  
"Let's go." Nelson said, grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair. He and Krumitz left for the parking lot.  
Avery turned to Raven, "Usually the family of the victim is one of the first things mentioned about them. Many detectives mention it immediately, due to subconscious sympathy and pity. Officer  
Dupree never mentioned them. I think the only reason she acknowledged them was due to your findings from his social media. Something is off here, and we need to figure out what." Raven nodded, and the two headed off to one of the FBI vans.  
Honestly though, Raven wasn't sure what to think. To her, it seemed like Avery was suspicious of everybody. What if Julia had just been preoccupied, or forgotten to say something? Some officers  
had an extremely hard time talking to or about the victims' families, often because they don't know what to say. What do you say to someone who's going through that much grief? Avery seemed to be making assumptions without thinking about all the possible  
reasons for Julia's actions. Sadly, Raven reflected, it seemed to be a repetitive occurrence.  
\- Krumitz and Nelson approached Maria Zepeda's house,  
one of the many sprawled out in a quiet part of the city. The house was cream colored, with a tan tiled roof and a well kept lawn. As they knocked on the door, Krumitz opened up a copy of the case file. "Her original statement said that she saw a  
man running down the street in blood stained clothes at 3:10 AM."  
Nelson looked surprised. "He didn't have a getaway car?"  
"Apparently not." He scanned the file for a few more seconds, before the door was opened.  
"Hello?" A woman stood at in the doorway, looking at them with a mixture of suspicion and confusion. "Can I help you?"  
"Ms. Zepeda? We're from the FBI, we just want to ask you a few more questions about the suspect you witnessed fleeing a crime scene early this morning." Krumitz said, closing the case file.  
"The police already talked to me." She answered, glancing back into the house.  
Nelson nodded, "We understand, but we need to follow up on what you told them. We just want to go over what you saw in person, and see if it relates to any of the new information that has come  
to light."  
The woman sighed, resigned, "Alright, but can we please make this quick? I have to take my son to baseball practice in half an hour."  
"We'll be as fast as possible, ma'am. May we come in?"  
"Yes, of course." She waved them inside, and gestured to a couch in the next room over. The walls were painted a light blue color, and two cream couches were situated against the wall on either  
side of the room. Towards one end, a cabinet stuffed with books supported a flatscreen T.V., and two windows allowed light to filter softly in from the outside. They also provided a clear view of the street. Krumitz guessed this was where Maria had  
witnessed the suspect fleeing.  
She ushered them into the room, "Please, sit down. Can I get you anything?"  
"No thank you," Nelson responded, then started with the questions. "Could you please tell us everything you saw, starting with when you came downstairs? What made you leave your room? Did you  
see anything amiss?" As Maria recounted her story, Krumitz pulled out a notepad, writing down what she said.  
"I remember that I heard a noise, a crash, and I came downstairs to check it out. I saw that my cat had knocked over a plant, so I cleaned it up and turned to go back upstairs. But I saw something  
moving out of the corner of my eye, so I looked out the window." She shook her head, as though trying to rid herself of the memory. "That's when I saw him. He didn't look tall, and I think he had dark colored hair, but it was dark out, so I'm not  
sure. He passed by a streetlight for a second, and," she took a deep breath. "Everything was covered in blood, his clothes, his skin. It was like he had painted himself red. Oh, and one more thing, he was holding his arm as he ran." Krumitz looked  
up, this was new information.  
"Which arm?"  
Maria closed her eyes for a second, trying to remember. "It might've been his right arm, but I can't be sure."  
"Thank you, you've helped us a lot." Nelson said, and he and Krumitz stood up to leave. Just then, a little boy appeared in the doorway.  
"Mom?" He asked, casting a single, curious glance at the two FBI agents. "I'm ready to go."  
"Alright honey, go get into the car, I'll join you in a second." She smiled at her son, before walking over to a closet and grabbing her coat off a hanger. She turned to face them one last time,  
"I hope you catch who did this. Mr. Singer was a loved member of this community and a wonderful neighbor."  
Nelson closed the door as he and Krumitz left, walking briskly to the van to get out of the chilling October air as quickly as possible. He slid into the driver's seat, facing Krumitz. "So the  
killer did cut himself. But what kind of killer leaves his own blood so blatantly at the crime scene, without even attempting to clean it up?"  
"Avery thought the killer was inexperienced, it's looking even more likely now."  
Nelson thought back to the bombing, remembering how quickly the building collapsed."Based on the way the dominant partner set up the bombs, in positions that easily took out the infrastructure  
of the warehouse, and were hidden in such a way we almost didn't see them, he has experience. Could he be teaching the other partner his skills?"  
Krumitz shrugged, "Maybe. But if he is, then why target Singer? You'd think, with him being ex-military, that he wouldn't be an easy target for a beginner." They lapsed into silence, contemplating  
the case. For every lead they got, their discoveries seemed to just add more questions, not answer them. Nelson started the car, then pulled out of the driveway. Across the street, the yellow crime tape surrounding Jonathon Singer's house fluttered  
in the wind.

"We were just going to visit my sister," Jonathon's wife said, clutching a tissue in her hand. "Jon said he had work to do and he was going to join us tomorrow." A sob choked itself out of her.  
"I'm sorry, I just..." She glanced behind her, at the dining room, where her sister was sitting with her kids. "I don't know what I'm going to tell them."  
Jonathon's wife and children had been visiting their aunt in a suburb not that far from the city, and had only been notified of the murder a few hours ago.  
Avery nodded, looking at her with sympathy. "Take some time." Then she turned to Raven and spoke quietly, "Can you continue questioning her? I want to speak with Ms. Roland," Avery gestured  
to the woman talking warmly to the children. Raven nodded, swallowing hard and turning to face the grieving woman. She looked up at Raven.  
"I'm ready now." She took a deep breath in, looking towards the ground.  
"I'm sorry for your loss, Mrs. Singer." Raven said, "I just need to ask you a few more questions about your husband. Did you know anyone who would want to hurt him?"  
"Oh god, no. Everyone loved Jon. People are- were always coming up to him on the street, having seen him in his uniform, or pictures of him that are in the community center, and thanking him  
for his service. One time a lady even baked him a cake on veteran's day." She reached up and wiped the tears off her face with a tissue.  
"Was there anyone at all he had a conflict with recently?" Mrs. Singer shook her head.  
"No. He was always trying to help people. Every weekend he would help out at a homeless shelter, sometimes a soup kitchen. He never stopped serving his country."  
"You mentioned that your husband said that he had work to do before he could join you here at your sister's, do you have any idea what that work might be?" The woman looked up sharply.  
"What are you implying?"  
Raven hesitated, these past few moments hadn't made what she was about to ask any easier. "I'm sorry I have to ask you this Mrs. Singer, but is there any possibility that your husband was involved  
in anything illegal?"  
She gasped, staring up at Raven intensely." God, no. He would never be part of something like that." She stood up, her voice growing more forceful with every word. "All throughout his life he  
did nothing but help this country, and you people have the nerve to accuse him of such a thing?" She spat the words at Raven's feet, as though she was suddenly disgusted by her presence. Avery looked up from the dining room, but only for a second.  
She seemed unbothered by Mrs. Singer's sudden flare in temper.  
Raven gulped, silently scolding herself for not asking earlier what to do if a situation like this occurred. "Mrs. Singer, we were not suggesting that at all, we just need to rule out as many  
possibilities as we can." She calmed down slightly, but remained standing, her shoulders hunched.  
"Any more questions?" She asked tersely, her eyes flickering to the clock, as though she was counting down the seconds to when Avery and Raven would leave. Raven shook her head, thanking her  
for her time, and Avery rejoined them at the door.  
"Thank you for your help Mrs. Singer. I assure you we are doing everything in our power to catch who killed your husband." Avery said, casting a reassuring smile at the woman. She stared at  
them for a second, before ushering them out and shutting the door.  
Raven and Avery made their way back to the van, which was parked several streets over. Cars were crammed on the sides of the streets, and they had passed multiple flyers for a Halloween party  
on their way to Mrs. Singer's sister's house. Raven spoke first, giving a fleeting glance behind her. "She reacted very aggressively when I asked her if her husband was involved in anything he shouldn't have been."  
Avery nodded, "Loved ones often feel angry or betrayed if they think we are suggesting that there was something about their family member that they didn't know or weren't aware of. It's not  
an uncommon response." Raven sighed, feeling shaken by the whole event. She didn't know what she wanted to ask, or why she was so surprised. Of course she hadn't expected sunshine and rainbows, so why was she so upset?  
She brushed it aside for the moment, "Did Ms. Roland know anything?"  
"No. She said that he and her sister had been happily married for 14 years, and that she couldn't think of anyone who would hurt him. What did Mrs. Singer say?"  
"That no one would even think about hurting her husband, that he was loved by everyone, and didn't have conflicts with any member of the community." Sarcasm laced her voice, as it was a common  
response from family, and entirely unhelpful. She paused, looking down at a text. "They just found Singer's devices, a laptop and Ipad. In a dumpster a few blocks away from the warehouse."  
"Let's get back to the station." Avery said, "I'll have Elijah look through Singer's usage on those devices and see if there's anything out of the ordinary."

Avery and Raven were halfway back to the station when Krumitz called them. "Hey guys, Maria Zepeda said that she saw the killer holding his right arm. She said it seemed like he was injured."  
"That's interesting," Avery mused. "Did she say anything else?  
"Nothing new. Pretty much everything she described was consistent with the original statement she gave to the police," Brody said.  
Avery nodded. "Elijah is looking though Singer's digital history now. He'll call us if he finds something. In the meantime, Krumitz, check if your decryption programs revealed anything about  
that website."  
"On it, Avery."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N I'm sorry this took me so long to write, but here it is! The final chapter. If anyone has requests, I'd be happy to do them! It might take me a little while, but I'd love to write some more fics for CSI: Cyber.

Also, Oliver's OCD in this chapter is loosely based off of my own. Hope you enjoy!

The killer stood with his head in his hands, letting the shadows of the alleyway overwhelm him. Then he began to pace, counting his steps. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Four steps. Four sets of four steps. Four sets  
of four breaths. He counted feverishly, checking his watch every four minutes. The hands ticked past four AM and he stopped, cursing. The night sky enveloped the buildings around him, dark clouds engulfing the tips of skyscrapers. Despite the muffling  
effect of the darkness, light flashed from city stores with corybantic energy, blinking on and off. He shut his eyes occasionally, only allowing himself to see the flashing lights in groups of four. Slowly the pattern calmed him. Four flashes, four  
seconds of darkness. Four flashes, four seconds of darkness. He let the rhythm continue, satisfying his need for peace. The wind brushed across his face, and for a second he felt a fleeting touch of serenity. It had been so long since it was his to  
keep.

"Hey!" A voice protruded from the entrance of the alley. "Sorry I'm late, baby brother."

The killer withdrew from his rhythm, sinking back into the chaos of the world. "Where were you? It's past four!" He stood squared up against his brother, at least a foot taller and with broader shoulders. His face twitched, fury falling like a mask  
over his features. He bristled, "Its past four! It's past four! It's past four! It's past four!"

"Look, I'm sorry. There was construction on the normal route and I had to take a detour."

"No excuses, it's past four!" The killer was pacing again.

"Ollie..."

"Just stop Casey! It has to be four or else." Casey knew there was no point in reasoning with him. It had to be four, or everything was out of line. The fate of the universe. He would have rolled his eyes if he didn't know it would upset Oliver more.  
/"Anyways, the feds have no clue. They're grasping for straws. From what I could tell at the lookout, I hurt at least one of them with those blasts. Ambulance came." The killer stopped pacing.

"Did you do as I asked?"

"Of course baby brother. Four bombs, one on each of the four walls, four milliseconds apart."

Oliver relaxed, his shoulders slouching forward. He dropped the aggressive, confrontational demeanor he had assumed in the minutes prior. He suddenly seemed like a child, Casey thought; it was so sad that the only way his brother could process the  
world without anxiety was in sets of four. It had stunted his growth in so many ways. Some school weeks he had refused to go one day, so that it was only four days a week. He hadn't ever had many friends, as he had anger issues too. Casey was the  
only one who had ever been there for him, but that had been hard as well. No one wanted to hang out with you when your brother was the "weirdo" of the school.

"C'mon Ollie. Let's go. This alleyway is giving me the creeps." He wrapped his arms around his brother's shoulders and they walked out together. "Where should we go tonight?"

Oliver smiled, "Silver Diner."

"Again? What if the boss is there?"

Oliver threw his head back and laughed. "Then we beat his ass. We paid him off weeks ago." Casey laughed too, then the two sprinted down the street, whooping and hollering into the open air.

* * *

\- Elijah sat up straight in his chair as his computer screen lit up. He read the message, blinking wearily. God, he needed more coffee. But it was already afternoon. The pixelated images were giving him a headache, how could people stand to stare at a  
computer screen all day and night?

Found Singer's devices. Info being wired to you now; update us if you find anything. -Avery

He leaned forward and began typing. Internet history, nothing unusual. No hidden apps, no strange phone calls. No random text messages, no creepy emails. it appeared that he had nothing to hide. Elijah bit his lip, opening the second data file. "Alright,  
Mr. Singer, just what are you up to?" He scanned the next few lines of test that showed up wearily, expected nothing interesting. Then he sat up straighter, reading with a higher level of alertness. He scrambled for he phone, silently begging Avery  
to pick up.

When she finally did, he didn't even let her speak. "Hey, we've got something here."

"What is it Elijah?"

"It seems like Singer was taking notes on his Ipad the night he was killed. I think that's why the killers disposed of his devices."

"What were the notes about? Are there names?"

"It looks to me like Singer overheard a conversation about a drug ring. His notes state, 'Working at soup kitchen today, the 28th. Sticking around for the midnight shift, was planning on heading home about 2:30. Overheard two men talking about experimental  
drugs, price per gram, etc. One disappeared outside for a second, I followed the other to the back of the soup kitchen. Asked him about what drug he was selling/buying. Naturally, he denied everything. Also freaked out, only spoke to me four words  
at a time.' Seems to me like Singer was trying to be the the good old American savior and confront druggies about changing their lifestyle, only it got him killed." Avery took a deep breath.

"That's what work Singer stayed behind to do when his wife took the children to her sister's. He was investigating the drug ring. Do we know what soup kitchen he was volunteering in?"

"Hold on a second... yes, it says the soup kitchen is run by the Helping End Hunger charity, and I'm sending you the address now."

"Looking at the timing, it seems like one of the guys from the soup kitchen could have followed him home and killed him." Avery swerved the car around, heading in the direction of the building. Then she turned to face Raven. "When we get there, see  
what you can salvage from any surrounding security cameras."

Raven nodded, opening up her laptop.

Once they arrived, she hacked into their security system and set back the footage to the night of the murder. The cameras showed Singer getting ready to leave, grabbing his jacket and turning to go. Then something stopped him. He appeared interested in  
two men near the door who were talking quietly to each other. Singer hung around for a little while, wandering slightly closer to the pair.

Raven checked to see if the cameras had audio, but she found nothing. Then Singer apparently heard something that peaked his interest. One of the men looked, around, said something to his friend, and left for the back of the dining area. Singer strode  
over to the other man and started talking to him. Raven couldn't make out what was being said, but the man was reacting negatively. Eventually Singer shook his head and left the soup kitchen, obviously agitated. When Raven saw the next part, she called  
Avery over.

"What did you find?"

"Well, Singer overhears these two guys talking about something that interests him, and he hangs around for a bit, until one of them is alone. Then, the man he starts talking to gets defensive- as far as I can tell, there's no audio -and finally Singer  
leaves, shaking his head. However, watch this." Raven rewound the footage again, and trailed the man on the screen. "He walks over by the kitchen, and look-" She zoomed in. "He grabs one of the butcher knives, which looks like a perfect match to our  
murder weapon, hides it under his coat, and then follows Singer out. I think we're looking at our murderer."

"Good work Raven," Avery said, "I'll update the team. Run facial recognition on him and text me his name when you find it." Raven nodded.

-

* * *

Five minutes and three updated teammates later, Raven texted a name, and a brief description, to Avery.

Oliver Hojen. No social media, no internet connections at all really. He has a brother, Casey Hojen. Lots of social media, mostly filled with narcissistic commentary, but one post mentions his brother. He seems very protective."

Avery paused as she left the soup kitchen, stopping at the door. She turned back for a moment, calling out to Raven. "We won't find Oliver, Casey won't allow it. But I bet we can find him."

"I'm on it."

* * *

Avery pulled into the hotel parking lot that Raven had traced Casey too. She said he had checked into room 217, just an hour ago. Krumitz and Nelson pulled up directly behind her and the three walked into the lobby.

"I've never in my entire life heard such creaky stairs," Nelson complained, how on Earth was the target not going to hear them coming now?

"Relax Nelson, he'll assume its just another guest." Krumitz motioned towards the door to room 217, and Avery drew her gun.

"FBI! Open up!" Avery yelled. The sound of crashing and breaking ensued from behind the door. Nelson kicked it down, drawing his gun as well.

"Casey Hojen! Hands on your head!" Slowly, Casey turned around. He had almost succeeded in fleeing down the fire escape, but not quite. His breath was ragged and frantic, but as his adrenaline wore off, he was left exhausted and desperate. All he  
wanted was to help his brother. Now it was all in vain, they had found him. Which meant they had probably found Ollie too.

Avery approached cautiously, then saw he was unarmed. She cuffed him and led him out of the hotel, ignoring the looks of other guests as they whispered and gasped.

"I knew this place didn't feel right." One woman shook her head and flounced out the front door.

A short drive later, Casey found himself seated in an interrogation him, staring at gray walls and gray ceiling, with a crease of white in the corners.

Raven, Nelson, and Krumitz stood behind the two way mirror together.

"I know he's the bomber, but something doesn't feel right. When someone sets up four bombs and detonates them with FBI agents in the building, they're usually some narcissistic son of a bitch who doesn't think they'll ever get caught. This guy is  
far too nervous," Krumitz declared, leaning forward and squinting at Casey. Raven rubbed self-consciously at her burnt leg, still feeling pain even with the medication. She didn't think anyone saw her wince, but Nelson noted it with increasing worry.  
Why did she have to be so stubborn? It was one of the things he admired about her, but he hated how she chose to suffer in silence. He wanted to say something, but decided to wait until they were alone so she wouldn't be as defensive. Instead, he  
reached for her hand and held it in his. Raven glanced at him and smiled softly.

"Thank you," she mouthed. Sometimes it was hard for her to remember that there was someone who actually cared about her. Being bullied throughout childhood had destroyed her ability to trust easily, but she was learning again. When she was fifteen,  
she had run away because she thought she'd never escape. Nelson had shown her that change was always possible, and that she was worth so much more than she'd believed. She felt guilty about hiding her pain from him, but promised herself she'd talk  
to him about it when the case was closed.

Just then, Avery walked into the interrogation room. She spread the case files out on the table, putting emphasis on the gruesome pictures of the murder. "Casey Hojen. Quite the dilemma you've gotten yourself into now. Do you know what the sentence  
is for bombing of public property? Including harming a federal agent? Over twenty years."

Casey looked down, shaking his head and biting his lip. He had to stay silent. For Ollie. Do it all for Ollie.

"Not only will you miss twenty years of your life, but you won't be there for your brother. He'll be all alone." Avery leaned down, face to face with him. "Tell me everything Casey. Tell me why you would bomb a building to protect a murderer."  
/"He's not a murderer!" Casey screamed and tried to stand up, but the handcuffs forced him to stay put.

"He killed someone Casey. You can't dismiss that." Avery tilted her head, analyzing him.

"You don't understand."

"Then tell me, Casey. Tell me what happened." She pushed the case files towards him, pointing at one of the murder scene pictures. "Tell me why Oliver did this."

"Ollie didn't do a thing. It was all me."

"We know you did the bombing Casey. But your brother did the killing."

"Stop treating him like a murderer! He didn't mean to! It was impulsive, he couldn't help it!"

"What couldn't he help?" Avery stayed calm, but this was a new development. Something was different in their partner's dynamic than they previously thought.

Casey leaned back in the seat and ran a hand through his hair. "Ollie has a severe form of OCD. And it's not an obsession with cleaning or any of the stuff tv says it is. Ollie has an obsession with the number four. Ever since he was a little kid,  
everything had to be four. Four pairs of pants, four pairs of socks, four shirts in the drawer, four strawberries in his lunch. We tried therapy, medicine, nothing seemed to help. He never had friends, so neither did I. When he was seventeen and I  
was twenty, our parents died in car accident. Ollie was destroyed. His OCD got worse, just because of grief. I tried to get him to grief counseling, but he would never go. Then one day he called me, sounding weirdly calm. Said he found this drug,  
and it worked."

Avery nodded, jotting everything down on her notepad. Casey was sweating, fear for Ollie in his eyes. "Go on."

"I was terrified; told him not to take it. But then I saw the effect it had on him. He was able to live his life. Everything no longer had to be four, he no longer had to follow such a specific routine. It was the happiest I had ever seen him." Casey  
paused, his eyes watering as he looked down at the table.

"What about the feather symbol that we found on your website?" Avery prompted, writing as quickly as she could.

"That was the dealer's symbol. He had a whole system of symbols, this one meant that the drug was experimental. When he saw that it worked with Ollie, he jacked up the price. Suddenly we couldn't afford it and Ollie was in a downward spiral once more.  
I was desperate and worked my ass off to get a promotion so we could afford it again. That cycle continued for years, but eventually the price just got too high. I don't really know how it happened, but we made the decision one night that since we  
were already involved in street drugs, we might as well start selling them to get the money."

"And then what happened? Is Ollie still on the drug?"

"We made good money for awhile, and paid back our supplier. Then... well, it stopped working. Something just changed, I guess. It would have a little effect, but not enough. Soon he would take the stuff in larger amounts to get the same effect as  
before, but I was terrified he'd overdose. We spent so much more money on the drug that we were barely able to pay back the boss. When we did, we couldn't pay rent and we got kicked out of our apartment. A few weeks later, we ended up at the soup  
kitchen."

"And that's where you met Singer,"Avery said, a flicker of sadness showing in her eyes. This was family gone wrong, dealt a horrible hand at life and not able to persevere.

"Yeah. Ollie told me that after I left the man confronted him. He said he didn't know what got into him, but he was scared. He only took the knife to scare him away!"

"Why did Ollie follow Singer home?"

"He didn't know how to talk to him. Ollie's never been great with people. Just because he's never had many friends," Casey added bitterly. "Ollie said he didn't mean to cut him. But when he saw the cut, he had to make three more. The drug wasn't working,  
if it had been, he wouldn't have done that. That wasn't him. He's not a violent person, he just never learned how to control it. He could, I swear! He just... just..."

"He didn't," Avery finished, putting the pencil and paper down on the table. "And you bombed the warehouse to draw attention away from him." Casey nodded.

"Casey, you have to tell us where Oliver is."

"No!" He protested, "I won't let you people take him away and make him miserable and lock him up in prison for a crime he didn't mean to commit!"

"Casey," Avery shook her head. "I won't let that happen. We'll get Oliver the help he needs. We have therapists specially trained to help others like him. I promise you that you will have your brother back, without the use of drugs. OCD will not dominate  
his life forever. He just needs help, let us give it to him. Tell us where he is."

Casey bit his lip and sighed. "He's in a motel at the edge of the city." He reached for a piece of paper and wrote out the address. "Here. You promise me you'll take care of him?"

Avery stood up and took the paper from him gently. "I promise."

* * *

Approximately fifteen minutes later, Casey and Oliver were together again, sitting in the same interrogation room at the police station.

"Ollie, these people will help, I swear. Everything will be alright."

The cyber team stood off to the side, taking in the scene.

"It never quite feels like a victory when the situation was just as bad for the criminals as it was for the victim," Nelson said, his hand still holding Raven's.

"Look at it this way." Avery walked over to them. "Singer's family gets closure, and Oliver gets the help he needs."

"What about Casey?" Raven asked. She understood that he was protecting his brother, but that in no way excused bombing a warehouse. Not to mention her leg was hurting her badly again.

"He'll probably serve a full sentence, but he'll see his brother every week."

For a minute they stood in silence, contemplating the future for both Singer's wife and kids, a well as the Hojen brothers. Then Avery left to book flights for them back to D.C., and Krumitz went outside to update Elijah.

Nelson turned to Raven. "I'm sure our flights wont leave until morning, ready to go back to the hotel?"

"Definitely." She smiled warmly at him, and they walked out of the building together. "Oh, and Nelson?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Being there for me. Caring. It means a lot."

Nelson stopped for a moment after they got in the car, listening to the wind whirl outside. He turned to face her, his eyes meeting hers. "Raven, I'll always be there for you."

She leaned forward after a second, and kissed him deeply, not long, but just enough.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Nelson started the car, and pulled out of the parking spot. "Now let's go watch Netflix and order room service so you can rest."

Raven laughed, feeling the happiest she'd ever been. "That sounds amazing."


End file.
